Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola faced the media today ahead of his side’s game against Arsenal on Sunday.
The Gunners returned to winning ways against Leeds United after back-to-back defeats in the Premier League. We will go into the game this week as the underdogs, but Guardiola is wary about the threat that Mikel Arteta’s men pose.
The former Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss labelled our build-up play as exceptional, and hailed the energy of three of our front men who could hurt his side at the Emirates on Sunday.
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Guardiola said, as per Manchester Evening News: “We’ll need to play as good as possible with the ball and run a lot in the right tempo because they have exceptional build-up, the quality and energy they have with [Emile] Smith-Rowe, [Bukayo] Saka and [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang and all the players with the quality in the middle to make the process well.
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“That’s why already in the present and in the early future they’ll be a real contender to fight for the titles.”
That is big praise from Guardiola but Arsenal are a long way off from being title contenders. However, if things go our way on Sunday, we can get the better of Manchester City – just like we did in the semi-finals of the FA Cup last season.
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Aubameyang had an off day against Benfica last night and he will be looking to right his wrongs. It was very unlike Auba to miss the three chances he did, but everyone including Guardiola knows that he is a big threat.
Smith Rowe has been the driving force in attacking midfield since Boxing Day. He has been absolutely brilliant for us over the last few weeks, and Arteta will be hoping that he steps up again on Sunday.
Saka has arguably been our best player this season. The teenager picked up another goal on Thursday, and he will be our biggest threat going forward against this incredible Manchester City side who have one hand on the title already.
